Injured Chicken

[chickadeeacres101]

My buff orpington was attacked by a dog. She got dragged by her head, so all her injuries are on her head. I made her drink water but she is not eating. What should I do?????

 

[tim_TX]

Keep her separated from any other chickens so they don't peck at her wounds. Chickens will peck at a wounded chicken, no matter how well they previously got along. Clean and treat the wounds topically with an antiseptic cream [antibiotic cream if you're not organic]. If it looks like an infection is starting then you will want to treat her with either injectable or oral antibiotics . Even if you want to be organic, antibiotics are sometimes necessary in order to avoid death. Of course, if you reintroduce her, then your entire flock is no longer organic. You can maintain 2 flocks however if you have room, one organic and one not, or you could find her a new home after she recovers.

 

[chickadeeacres101]

ok thanks, but what should I do about eating

 

[sammi]

when did this attack happen?

separate the hen to a warm safe place.
clean all wounds with saline solution..then dab with watered betadine.
get some electrolytes and vitamins for the drinking water.

if you can't get the electrolytes quick..you can give her diluted Pedialyte until you can get some commercial electrolytes.
this will help treat the shock and stress.
if you don't have poultry vitamins, you can use Poly-vi-sol liquid baby vitamins till you can get some poultry vitamins.
get the Poly-vi-sol with no iron..give 2-3 drops once a day on the beak for a week, tapering off for another week.

make up a mixture of feed, plain yogurt and cooked egg yolk moistened with warm water..not soupy..just enough to puff..
just a small amount each day.
also have her usual layer feed available to her.

watch closely for any other symptoms, such as behavior and movement.
check her eyes for clarity.
keep a close eye on droppings for any sign of blood.
gently check her all over for any other wounds, heat or swelling.

after a trauma like this, sometimes they won't eat for day or so..
hopefully the mixture will tempt her to eat.
it's very important that she has water with electrolytes.

are you able to post a pic of the wounds?

 

[Matt A NC]

I had a Rooster get attacked by a Possum. He was being dragged across the floor of the coup by his head just before I killed the possum. His injuries were also just on and around his head. His head swelled to 3 times normal size. Couldn't see to eat.

The wounds were cleaned daily and covered with antiseptic/antibiotic ointment. He was isolated from everyone else.

For nutrition, we put a liquid mixture(water, vitamins, electrolytes) down his throat for the first 3 days. His weight loss was still considerable. At that point I had to force feed him. I mixed sweet apple sauce with Chick starter and mashed up mealworms. Made the mixture just thick enough to make small juicy balls. I pushed 3 balls down his throat every 3 hours. After feeding he received a 5cc syringe of the liquid mixture too.

When force feeding or giving liquid you have to make sure to place it down past their breathing tube. If you look down the throat you should see it below the base of the tongue. If you get anything in that they suck it into their lungs were it will get infected and kill the bird.

A little food or liquid place just inside the beak can be consumed by the bird safely. This way can take quite a while each feeding to get much in the bird. The first several days my Roo was too terrified to hold for this long. We wanted to keep his stress levels down.

The swelling finally went down enough after a week of force feeding that he was able to eat on his own.

He made a full recovery, except for the one eye that was injured too severely. After all the personal care, he was a very friendly boy. One-Eye Sam was a normal Roo till he fell in the pond and drown a couple months later.

Matt

 

[CarriBrown]

Baby parrot food also works well since it has a lot of vitamins and nutrients. Mix it with water and feed it via dropper. I always just drop food into the beak so the bird swallows the mixture itself (helps avoid choking).
Good luck.

 

[chickadeeacres101]

It has been awhile since I posted on here, sorry bout that. I justed wanted to thank you guys!

She is back in the coop and is happy as ever!